PREP GOLFERS READY TO EMBARK ON ANOTHER SEASON

It should prove to be an exciting campaign for local high school athletes participating in golf as some teams and individuals are coming off stellar 2000 seasons.

The caliber of golf has been on the rise in Southeast Missouri in recent years as Jackson, Poplar Bluff, Dexter, Sikeston and St. Vincent of Perryville, in particular, have fielded very competitive squads.

For the most part, many of the better performances of the past season were turned in by underclassmen who will be back to try to lead their teams to new heights.

Cape Central

The Tigers are hopeful that a year's experience will help them improve on an eighth-place district finish.

Central also failed to place an individual state qualifier for the first time in several years.

"I think we will be more competitive than last year," said coach Dick Wadlington. "We'll certainly be deeper. We have seven or eight kids who can shoot around 40 or below on a given day."

Two senior returnees, Nick Harter and Luke Oliver, will be counted on to lead the Tigers. Harter will probably be No. 1 and Oliver No. 2.

Sophomore Paul York, last year's sixth man, comes back with a year's experience under his belt, along with junior Ray Primonato.

Sophomores Tyler Thompson and Walt Lents and freshmen Todd Obergoenner, Ty Gramling and Tyson Seabaugh will compete for the other spots.

Cape Central opens the season at Sikeston Wednesday.

Notre Dame

Optimism abounds for the Bulldogs as they have five varsity returnees including their No. 1 and No. 2 players for the past two years in senior Nick Martin and junior Tim Buerck.

Martin and Buerck are eager to atone for disappointing performances in last year's state meet when they finished in the middle of the pack.

"We have lots of veterans returning, so we have high expectations for this season," said coach Chris Janet. "We want to win our first district championship after finishing second to Caruthersville last year."

Battling for the other four spots will be seniors Lucas Klein and Ryan Hannan; junior Paul Unterreiner; sophomores Ryan Fenwick, Jordan Kuper and Adam Rigdon; and freshmen Tyler Banken, Jon Obermark and Luke Arnzen.

Notre Dame, 13th out of 16 teams at last year's Class 2A state meet, hosts Greenville, Fredericktown and Clearwater in the opening meet of the season at Bent Creek Golf Course March 22.

The second annual Notre Dame Invitational, which attracts most of the better golf teams in Southeast Missouri, follows on March 26 at Bent Creek.

Jackson

Coach Ron Cook, who guided the Lady Indians to third place in the Class 4A state basketball tournament, is busy making the transition from the court to the links.

With a year's experience behind them, Cook is optimistic about the Indians.

"I think we have a good chance to come out of districts (top two teams advance) and make it to state," said Cook. "We want to be competitive in every tournament and peak at district time."

Jackson will have five solid returnees from last year's team, losing only the graduated Chris Pike, who was the only Indian to qualify for the 4A state meet.

Sophomore Matt Litzelfelner and junior Peyton Sims should garner the top two spots for the Indians, while senior Brett McDowell and juniors Nathan Brown and Kyle Perry will battle for Nos. 3 through 5.

Seniors Rhett Butler and Andy Kohl will likely contend for the final position, but sophomore Matt Gregory could push for a spot should anyone slip.

The Indians, as well as several other teams, will get a stern early test in the Notre Dame Invitational on March 26.

Perryville

The Pirates are another team with high expectations after suffering through growing pains last season with a young squad.

"This should be one of our better teams," said first-year coach Dave Broombaugh, a Southeast Missouri State graduate. "We have all of our top six returning."

Senior Ryan Kutz; juniors Jason Dreyer, Justin Dreyer and Jack Moore; along with sophomores Kellen Stark and Nicholas Erlacker all figure to be in the mix for the top six spots.

Thus far, Stark has been impressive in preseason play with a 39 average.

Freshman Brandon Kell also has a chance to break into the rotation.

Perryville opens at the Notre Dame Invitational on March 26.

St. Vincent

Sporting an impressive resume throughout the 90's, St. Vincent has one state championship, a second and two thirds during that time.

The Indians finished second last season to Class 1A state champion Gallatin and all indications point to a return trip.

"The kids said they'd win it this year," said coach Tom Prost.

There is no reason to doubt them, as they return all their top players with seniors Craig Schumer and Jonathan Paulus leading the way.

Schumer and Paulus have been No. 1 or 2 since their freshman seasons. Paulus had the best individual performance for the Indians at last year's state meet as he finished fourth.

Senior Mark Gotto and junior Wes Richardet were fifth and third, respectively, in last year's rotation. Richardet contributed heavily to the Indians' state run, placing 19th in the individual competition.

Juniors Adam and Andrew Prost figure to compete for playing time in the middle of the order.

St. Vincent opens the season at home against Valle on March 23.